System and method for provisioning a remote resource for an electronic device

ABSTRACT

The disclosure recites a device, system and method for provisioning resources from a server in a network to a mobile electronic device. The method comprising at the server: after receiving a network registration request from the device, accessing a device registry; if the device is in the device registry, determining whether a resource is may be provisioned to the device from the server, otherwise, if not, awaiting a request from the device for the resource; determining whether the resource has already been provisioned to the device or the device has been designated to be provisioned with the resource from an alternative source, and if so, not approving the resource to be provisioned to the device, otherwise providing a data transmission to the device from the server containing text and a link to the resource that can be extracted by the device.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.No. 13/329,458 filed on Dec. 19, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,335,880 whichis a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/394,112filed on Mar. 31, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,122,174.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure relates to providing a resource, such as data,information, text or a file, to a communication device. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to a system and method forprovisioning dynamic resources through a central server for the device.

BACKGROUND

Mobile communication devices allow their users to communicate withothers in more flexible ways and at more flexible times. Frequently, itis useful to provide such devices with resources, such as data files,help files, text and other information. Some resources may be pre-loadedinto a device at manufacturing time, but it may be difficult to manageand maintain an update regime for that device. If a device has a helpapplication, for example, and if the text for the application ispermanently stored in the device, it is difficult to make changes andupdate the text.

It is desirable to provide an improved system and method for dynamicallymanaging resources provided to one or more electronic devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a resource provided to an electronicdevice as per an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is another schematic diagram of the electronic device of FIG. 1illustrating a GUI screen on its display;

FIG. 3 is another schematic diagram of the device of FIG. 1 showinganother GUI screen on its display;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary screen image produced on the display of thedevice of FIG. 1 when a help application is being executed thereonaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of internal components of the device of FIG.1;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a system that may be used to provide aresource to the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 a is a flow chart of exemplary processes and steps conducted by aresource server when providing a data packet relating to a resource to adevice in the system of FIG. 6;

FIG. 7 b is a flow chart of exemplary processes and steps conducted by adevice when monitoring for and processing a data packet received from aresource from a resource server in the system of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of another system that may be used to providea resource to the device of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure provides a system and method for provisioningresources to an electronic device. Typically, although not necessarily,the device is a mobile, wireless communication device. The associatedresource is dynamically provided to the device from a remote source,such as a server. As such, the resource may be dynamically maintained,updated and changed at the remote source, thereby providing the device(and other devices accessing the resource) with common set of data andinformation for that resource.

In a first aspect of an embodiment of this disclsoure, a method ofprovisioning resources at a server in a network to a mobile electronicdevice for a mobile electronic device is provided. The method comprisingat the server: after receiving a network registration request from themobile electronic device, accessing a device registry linking resourcesmanaged by the server with mobile electronic devices currently trackedby the server to determine whether the mobile electronic device is inthe device registry; if the mobile electronic device is in the deviceregistry, determining whether a resource is approved to be provisionedto the mobile electronic device from the server, otherwise, if themobile electronic device is not in the device registry, awaiting arequest from the mobile electronic device for the resource andevaluating the request; determining whether either the resource hasalready been provisioned to the mobile electronic device or the mobileelectronic device has been designated to be provisioned with theresource from an alternative source from the server, and if so, notapproving the resource to be provisioned to the mobile electronicdevice, otherwise providing a data transmission to the mobile electronicdevice from the server, the data transmission containing text and a linkto the resource that can be extracted by the mobile electronic deviceand used to access the resource and if the resource is new to the mobileelectronic device, the data transmission contains an indicator that theresource is new; and transmitting the resource to the mobile electronicdevice when the link is activated through a graphical user interface(GUI) generated on the mobile electronic device.

In the method, the resource may provide information relating to awireless carrier associated with the network and the mobile electronicdevice.

In the method, the resource may provide information relating to a user'saccount associated with the network and the mobile electronic device.

The method may further comprise providing a second resource to themobile electronic device with a second link and second text informationrelating to the second resource for the mobile electronic device.

In the method, the resource may provide information relating to a user'saccount associated with the network and the mobile electronic device.

In the method, the resource may relate to another application operatingon the mobile electronic device.

In the method, the link may be a HTML link.

In the method, the link may be an address to an FTP site.

In the method, the server may not approve the resource for provisioningto the mobile device if either the resource has already been provisionedto the mobile electronic device or the mobile electronic device has beendesignated to be provisioned with the resource from an alternativesource.

The method may further comprise checking a mobile electronic deviceregistry when determining whether to approve or not approve the resourcefor the mobile electronic device.

In the method, the resource may relate to another application operatingon the mobile electronic device.

In the method, at the mobile electronic device the data transmission maybe received; and if the resource is new to the mobile electronic devicean indicator may be provided on the GUI that the resource is new.

In a second aspect, a mobile server for provisioning resources to amobile electronic device through a network is provided. The servercomprises: a microprocessor; a display; memory; and applicationinstructions stored in the memory that provide instructions that areexecuted on the microprocessor. The instructions are to: after receivinga network registration request from a mobile electronic device, access adevice registry to determine whether a resource is approved to beprovisioned to the mobile electronic device from the mobile server; ifthe mobile electronic device is not in the device registry, await arequest for a resource from the mobile electronic device from theprovisioning server and evaluating the request; determine from thedevice registry whether either the resource has already been provisionedto the mobile electronic device or the mobile electronic device has beendesignated to be provisioned with the resource from an alternativesource from the provisioning server and if so, not approving theresource to be provisioned to the mobile electronic device, otherwiseproviding a data transmission to the mobile electronic device from theprovisioning server, the data transmission containing text and a link tothe resource that can be extracted by the mobile electronic device andused to access the resource and the data transmission containing anindicator that the resource is new to the mobile electronic device ifthe resource is new to the mobile electronic device; and transmit theresource to the mobile electronic device when the link is activatedthrough a graphical user interface (GUI) generated on the mobileelectronic device.

In the mobile server, the resource may provide information relating to awireless carrier associated with the network and the mobile electronicdevice.

In the mobile server, the resource may provide information relating to auser's account associated with the network and the mobile electronicdevice.

In the mobile server, the application instructions may provide furtherinstructions executed on the microprocessor to providing a secondresource to the mobile electronic device with a second link and secondtext information relating to the second resource for the mobileelectronic device.

In the mobile server, the resource may provide information relating to auser's account associated with the network and the mobile electronicdevice.

In the mobile server, the resource may relate to another applicationoperating on the mobile electronic device.

In the mobile server, the link may be a HTML link.

In the mobile server, the link may be an address to an FTP site.

In another aspect, a method of provisioning resources from a server in anetwork to a mobile electronic device is provided. The method comprisesat the mobile electronic device: generating and sending a networkregistration request to the server to allow the server to determinewhether the mobile electronic device is in a device registry linkingresources managed by the server; waiting for a data transmission fromthe server, the data transmission containing text and a link to theresource that can receive the data transmission at the mobile electronicdevice; incorporating text and a link from the data transmission into aGUI generated on a display of the mobile electronic device to provide aninterface to activate the link from the mobile electronic device; andgenerating an indicator on the GUI that the resource is new, if theresource is new to the mobile electronic device.

The method may further comprise retrieving the resource from the serverwhen the link is activated through the GUI.

In the method, the GUI may also provide information about the mobileelectronic device that is stored locally on the mobile electronicdevice.

In the method, the resource may provide information relating to awireless carrier associated with the network and the mobile electronicdevice.

In the method, the resource may provide information relating to a user'saccount associated with the network and the mobile electronic device.

In the method, a second resource may be provided to the mobileelectronic device with a second link and second text informationrelating to the second resource provided to the mobile electronicdevice; and the GUI may provide a prioritized presentation of the textinformation of the resource and the second resource based on a rankingscheme.

In the method, the GUI may be a help screen generated by a help moduleoperating on the mobile electronic device.

In the method, the server may not approve the resource for provisioningto the mobile device if either the resource has already been provisionedto the mobile electronic device or the mobile electronic device has beendesignated to be provisioned with the resource from an alternativesource; and the information may be displayed on the GUI when theresource is not provisioned to the mobile electronic device.

In the method, the server may check a mobile electronic device registrywhen determining whether to approve or not approve the resource for themobile electronic device.

In the method, the resource may relate to another application operatingon the mobile electronic device.

In a still another aspect, a mobile electronic device that isprovisioned resources from a server in a network is provided. The mobileelectronic device comprises: a microprocessor; a display; memory. Thedevice also comprises application instructions stored in the memory andproviding instructions executed on the microprocessor to: generate andsend a network registration request to the server to allow the server todetermine whether the mobile electronic device is in a device registrylinking resources managed by the server; wait for a data transmissionfrom the server, the data transmission containing text and a link to theresource that can receive the data transmission at the mobile electronicdevice; incorporate text and a link from the data transmission into aGUI generated on a display of the mobile electronic device to provide aninterface to activate the link from the mobile electronic device; andprovide an indicator on the GUI that the resource is new if the resourceis new to the mobile electronic device.

In the device, the application instructions may further compriseinstructions to retrieve the resource from the server when the link isactivated through the GUI.

In the device, the GUI may also provide information about the mobileelectronic device that is stored locally on the mobile electronicdevice.

In the device, the resource may provide information relating to awireless carrier associated with the network and the mobile electronicdevice.

In the device, the application instructions may further compriseinstructions to generate help information for displaying on the display.

In the device, the GUI may be a help screen generated on the mobileelectronic device.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a method ofprovisioning a resource to an electronic device is provided. The methodcomprises the steps of: (a) maintaining the resource at a remote serverfrom the device; and (b) after a triggering event, providing a datatransmission to the device, the data transmission containing accessinformation for the resource that can be extracted by the device andused to access the resource.

In the method the transmission may further contain text informationabout the resource and the access information is a link to a web pageassociated with the resource.

In the method, the text information may be incorporated into a GUIoperating on the device; and the GUI provides an interface to access andactivate the link through a browser operating on the device.

In the method, the GUI may also provide information about the devicethat is stored locally on the device.

In the method, the resource may provide information relating to awireless carrier associated with the device. Alternatively, the resourcemay provide information relating to a user's account associated with thedevice. Alternatively still, a second resource may be provided to thedevice with access information and text information relating to thesecond resource provided to the device; and the GUI may prioritize thepresentation the text information for the resource and the secondresource based on a ranking scheme. The triggering event may relate tothe recent appearance of the device to a communication networkassociated with the resource.

In another aspect, a system for provisioning a resource to an electronicdevice is provided. The system comprises: a resource providinginformation for the device; a server providing maintenance for theresource; a communication link providing the device with access to theresource; a data transmission module for extracting access informationabout the resource and selectively providing the access information tothe device in a data transmission through the communication link; and adata processing module for receiving the data transmission and updatingaccess information in the device for the resource. In the device, a GUIprovides information on a topic retrieved from local storage on thedevice and additional information about the resource is incorporatedinto the GUI for that topic.

In the system, the data transmission may further contain textinformation about the resource and the access information may be a linkto a web page associated with the resource.

In the system, the text information may be incorporated into the GUIoperating on the device; and the GUI may provide an interface to accessand activate the link through a web browser operating on the device.

In the system, the device may also provide information that is storedlocally on the device that is provided in the GUI.

In the system, the resource may provide information relating to awireless carrier associated with the device. Alternatively, the resourcemay provide information relating to a user's account associated with thedevice.

In the system, a second resource may be provided to the device withaccess information and text information relating to the second resourceprovided to the device; and the GUI may prioritize the text informationof the resources based on a ranking scheme.

In the system, the data transmission module may selectively build andsend the data transmission upon receipt of a triggering event relatingto the status of the device.

In the system, the triggering event may be based on the location of thedevice. Alternatively, the triggering event may be a status of thedevice as known by the server.

Additional features and aspects of the invention are described in thefollowing description of several exemplary embodiments of thedisclosure.

First, a description is provided relating to a device that accesses aresource managed by an embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, an electronicdevice for receiving electronic communications, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention is indicated generally at 10. In the presentembodiment, electronic device 10 is based on a computing platform havingfunctionality of an enhanced personal digital assistant with cellphone,web browsing and e-mail features. Such functionalities are providedthrough software and firmware modules operating on device 10. It is,however, to be understood that electronic device 10 can be based onconstruction, design and functions of other electronic devices, such assmart telephones, desktop computers pagers or laptops having telephonyequipment. In a present embodiment, electronic device 10 includes, ahousing 12, which frames an LCD display 14, a speaker 16, an LEDindicator 19, a trackwheel 20, an exit key 22, keypad 24 and a telephoneheadset comprised of an ear bud 28 and a microphone 30. Trackwheel 20and exit key 22 can be inwardly depressed along the path of arrow “A” asa means to provide additional user-input. Keypad 24 is shown as a matrixof three rows of keys with each row having ten keys. In otherembodiments a directional key can be provided (not shown), where it is a“rocker”-type key that has a center rest position and can be tilted ormoved from its rest position in one of several directions (e.g. up,down, left or right, when viewing the front of device 10) to activate aprogrammed function associated with the direction of activation. Ajoystick or a rollerball input device may also be provided instead or inaddition to a directional key. Other arrangements of input/outputdevices (including the number, configuration and layout keys, display,speakers etc.) may be used.

Remote resource 32 is managed and maintained by server 34. Resource 32may be a file, data or a combination of other resources. Resourcemanagement software operating on server 34 allows resource 32 to beupdated and information about resource 32 to be extracted anddistributed to device 10. The software can periodically extract andbuild reference data transmissions through data packets 38 aboutresource 32. The resource management software allows a user at theserver to update and manage the content and associated text and linksfor resource 32. The software may also control or signal when a datatransmission should be created and provided to one or more devices 10.Any trigger may initiate the data transmission, including a change inresource 32, a change in the network or detection of any new devices tothe network. It will be appreciated that the devices may be notified ofchanges or new resources 32 by other communication methods. For example,in another embodiment, the management software may generate and send anemail message to device 10 containing a notification of the new contentand access link for resource 32. Alternatively, a specific backgroundtransmission may be sent to device 10 that is received and processed bydevice 10 without any interaction by its user. The transmission mayinclude a command to update a text message in a GUI of an application toindicate that new content is available. For example, the command mayproduce a special “*” flag in the GUI that indicates the presence of thenew content. Other commands and messages may be provided. Thereafter,the software can forward data packets 38 to a transmission interface ofcommunication network 36 for conversion and transmission to one or moredevices 10. Network 36 may provide a wired connection, a wirelessconnection or a combination of both between server 34 and device 10.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, further detail is provided on device 10 andhow it requests, receives and processes data packets 38 from resources32. Device 10 has components therein to receive such data packets 38from network 36 and to extract and process data from any received datapackets 38. The data extracted from data packets 38 is used byapplications operating on device 10.

Referring to FIG. 1, various applications are provided on device 10,including email, telephone, calendar, address book and helpapplications. A GUI to activate these applications is provided ondisplay 14 through a series of icons 26. Some of the shown icons includetelephone icon 26A, calendar icon 26C, address book icon 26D, email icon26E, web browser icon 26F and help icon 26G and option icon 26H. Suchapplications can be selected and activated using the keypad 24 and/orthe trackwheel 20 to navigate through icons 26 and individuallyhighlight same. Cursor 40 provides a visual cue for each icon as itindicates what icon 26 is currently being “highlighted” as the icons arebeing navigated. Referring to FIG. 2, at the bottom of display 14 acorresponding text message may be generated to provide additionalinformation relating to the currently highlighted icon 26. For example,when option icon 26H is highlighted, the text “option” is presented atthe bottom of display 14.

Device 10 may be configured to operate with one or more standardizedcontent languages such as WML or HTML, to allow standardized pages ofdata and forms to be transmitted to it and to be displayed on display14. This may be done by installing (or having installed) an appropriatebrowser application on device 10. The data packets transmitted to device10 may include pages formatted in a content language for which device 10is configured. Alternatively, the data packets may identify the addressof a server where such pages are available.

In the embodiment, the resource 32 is accessed through an application,such as the help application. Generally, the application provides a GUIfor configuring operational parameters of device 10 (e.g. local timedisplay preferences, font sizes etc.). Specifically, Help applicationprovides additional information on any topic, such as help information,relating to services, features and notices for the communication networkassociated with device 10. In an embodiment resources access through thehelp application is pre-loaded on the device. The resources may relateto general help information and specific information for specificapplication. This pre-loaded help information about a topic may beenhanced, supplemented or augmented by the additional informationprovided by resource 32. It will further be appreciated that the GUI canencompass any visual interface generated on device 10 that provides anycombination of text and graphics content to the user and not just acombination of selection menus, drop down menus, radio buttons and otherinterfaces that allow a user to make a selection from a set of choiceduring execution of the application associated with the GUI. Further itwill be appreciated that the application generating the GUI can provideroutines that can modify the textual/graphical content of the GUI byinserting links to resource 32 within that content whenever thattextual/graphical information is presented to the user. Further thelinks are dynamic in that they reflect any changes to the links that areprovisioned on the device at any given point in time.

In FIG. 3, an exemplary screen shot 300 generated on display 14 is shownwhen the help application is operating on device 10. Generally, the helpapplication presents navigable web pages that provide text, video andaudio clips about device 10 or one or more applications operating on it.

Additional information may be provided by resource 32. The textdisplayed in the appropriate location in the GUI may be customized toprovide additional information for the resource. Activation of the entry(or text) in the menu will cause device 10 to access resource 32.Alternatively or additionally, additional information provided byresource 32 may be inserted as additional links in the actualdescriptions generated in the help application.

Additionally, a series of cascading menu bars, drop down menus andselections through a GUI are provided as the user navigates through theapplication. For example, help application may generate a GUI menu bar302 at the top of display 14 containing a series of selections 304therein. Additional “pull down” menu 306 is generated when a selectionis activated or highlighted. A user navigates through bar 302 and menu306 using a combination of input devices such as wheel 20, exit key 22and key pad 24. The interface for controlling navigation through the GUIusing signals generated by the input devices is provided by software andfirmware modules operating on device 10. Such modules are known to thoseskilled in the art. One or more entries in either the pull down menu 306or the selection 304 in the bar 302 may relate to resource 32 providedby an embodiment through information provided from data packets 36.Other GUI implementations may be used including pop-up-menus that appearwhen the user clicks a specific key (such as the trackwheel) anddisappear when the user presses another button (such as the escapebutton). As an example, a pop-up menu may be generated when a new orupdated resource 32 is available from a server 34 (after the serversoftware generates and sends an appropriate message to device 10). Anoption for the GUI is that the pop-up feature may be selectivelyenabled.

Referring to FIG. 4, exemplary screen shot 400 generated by a helpapplication on display 14 of device 10 is shown. The help applicationhad been activated from the option application using the GUI notedabove. The help application provides information on any relevant topicas designated for device 10. The information may be customized fordevice 10, the location of device 10, the state of the device or thecarrier connecting to device 10. The contents of the screen shot includecan include any static and variable data, including text, and statusinformation provided by resource 32. For example, text in any of theboxes may be linked to a web link (as provided in the data packetsrelating to resource 32) to one or more remote web sites associated withremote resource 32. The help application has taken the access and textinformation from the data packets and has embedded the text informationand any link access commands to the associated remote link into the GUI.The contents can provide static text, images, video clips, access tosearch screens and other media information through display 14.Additional media, such as audio clips, can be presented through ear bud28. As such, a resource 32, text relating to the resource and accessinformation for resource 32 can be integrated with the GUI of the helpapplication (or other applications), such that the resource effectivelybecomes an extension to the application (as opposed to generic,non-application-specific, downloadable content), thereby providing theability to extend the look and feel of those applications, dynamically,in the field.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 5, further detail is now provided on the helpapplication resource and how it is accessed by device 10. Generally,some local resources managed by an embodiment may be stored locally ondevice 10; however, additional resources 32 may be accessed remotelyfrom device 10. Specifically for information provided through a helpapplication, some content is already pre-loaded on the device 10 toallow it to be accessible when the device is out of coverage from thenetwork. However, additional remote resources may be provided throughweb links to supplement the help information pre-loaded on device 10.Such remote resources 32 may be provisioned to device 10 through server34. When a server 34 is provided, then one or more devices 10 can accessresource 32 and resource 32 can be centrally managed, maintained anddistributed. Any particular information required by device 10 on how toaccess resource 32 may be provided by server 34 through data packets 38generated and sent from server 34 to device 10.

Referring to FIG. 5, functional elements of device 10 are provided. Thefunctional elements are generally electronic or electro-mechanicaldevices. In particular, microprocessor 18 is provided to control andreceive almost all data, transmissions, inputs and outputs related todevice 10. Microprocessor 18 is shown schematically as coupled to keypad24, display 14 and other internal devices. Microprocessor 18 controlsthe operation of the display 14, as well as the overall operation of thedevice 10, in response to actuation of keys on the keypad 24 by a user.Exemplary microprocessors for microprocessor 18 include Data 950(trade-mark) series microprocessors and the 6200 series microprocessors,all available from Intel Corporation.

In addition to the microprocessor 18, other internal devices of thedevice 10 include: a communication subsystem 41; a short-rangecommunication subsystem 43; keypad 24; and display 14; with otherinput/output devices including a set of auxiliary I/O devices throughport 45, a serial port 47, a speaker 16 and a microphone port 32 formicrophone 30; as well as memory devices including a flash memory 42(which provides persistent storage of data) and random access memory(RAM) 44; clock 46 and other device subsystems (not shown). The device10 is preferably a two-way radio frequency (RF) communication devicehaving voice and data communication capabilities. In addition, device 10preferably has the capability to communicate with other computer systemsvia the Internet.

Operating system software executed by microprocessor 18 is preferablystored in a computer readable medium, such as flash memory 42, but maybe stored in other types of memory devices, such as read only memory(ROM) or similar storage element. In addition, system software, specificdevice applications, or parts thereof, may be temporarily loaded into avolatile storage medium, such as RAM 44. Communication signals receivedby the mobile device may also be stored to RAM 44.

Microprocessor 18, in addition to its operating system functions,enables execution of software applications on device 10. A set ofsoftware applications 48 that control basic device operations, such as avoice communication module 48A and a data communication module 48B, maybe installed on the device 10 during manufacture or downloadedthereafter.

Communication functions, including data and voice communications, areperformed through the communication subsystem 41 and the short-rangecommunication subsystem 43. Collectively, subsystem 41 and subsystem 43provide the signal-level interface for all communication technologiesprocessed by device 10. Various other applications 48 provide theoperational controls to further process and log the communications.Communication subsystem 41 includes receiver 50, transmitter 52 and oneor more antennas, illustrated as receive antenna 54 and transmit antenna56. In addition, communication subsystem 41 also includes processingmodule, such as digital signal processor (DSP) 58 and local oscillators(LOs) 60. The specific design and implementation of communicationsubsystem 41 is dependent upon the communication network in which device10 is intended to operate. For example, communication subsystem 41 ofthe device 10 may be designed to operate with the Mobitex (trade-mark),DataTAC (trade-mark) or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) mobile datacommunication networks and also designed to operate with any of avariety of voice communication networks, such as Advanced Mobile PhoneService (AMPS), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Code DivisionMultiple Access CDMA, Personal Communication Service (PCS), GlobalSystem for Mobile Communication (GSM), etc. Communication subsystem 41provides device 10 with the capability of communicating with otherdevices using various communication technologies, including instantmessaging (IM) systems, text messaging (TM) systems and short messageservice (SMS) systems.

In addition to processing communication signals, DSP 58 provides controlof receiver 50 and transmitter 52. For example, gains applied tocommunication signals in receiver 50 and transmitter 52 may beadaptively controlled through automatic gain control algorithmsimplemented in DSP 58.

In a data communication mode a received signal, such as a text messageor web page download, is processed by the communication subsystem 41 andis provided as an input to microprocessor 18. The received signal isthen further processed by microprocessor 18 which can then generate anoutput to the display 14 or to an auxiliary I/O port 45. A user may alsocompose data items, such as e-mail messages, using keypad 24, athumbwheel associated with keypad 24, and/or some other auxiliary I/Odevice connected to port 45, such as a touchpad, a rocker key, aseparate thumbwheel or some other input device. The composed data itemsmay then be transmitted over communication network 68 via communicationsubsystem 41.

In a voice communication mode, overall operation of device 10 issubstantially similar to the data communication mode, except thatreceived signals are output to speaker 16, and signals for transmissionare generated by microphone 30. Alternative voice or audio I/Osubsystems, such as a voice message recording subsystem, may also beimplemented on device 10.

Short-range communication subsystem 43 enables communication betweendevice 10 and other proximate systems or devices, which need notnecessarily be similar devices. For example, the short-rangecommunication subsystem may include an infrared device and associatedcircuits and components, or a Bluetooth (trade-mark) communicationmodule to provide for communication with similarly-enabled systems anddevices. A WiFi connection may also be provided.

Powering the entire electronics of the mobile handheld communicationdevice is power source 62. Preferably, the power source 62 includes oneor more batteries. More preferably, the power source 62 is a singlebattery pack, especially a rechargeable battery pack. A power switch(not shown) provides an “on/off” switch for device 10. Upon activationof the power switch an application 48 is initiated to turn on device 10.Upon deactivation of the power switch, an application 48 is initiated toturn off device 10. Power to device 10 may also be controlled by otherdevices and by internal software applications.

Brief descriptions are provided on the applications 48 stored andexecuted in device 10. Additional applications include calendar 48Cwhich tracks appointments and other status matters relating to the userand device 10. Calendar 48C is activated by activation of calendar icon26 on display 14. It provides a daily/weekly/month electronic scheduleof appointments, meetings and events entered by the user. Calendar 48Ctracks time and day data for device 10 using processor 18 and internalclock 46. The schedule contains data relating to the currentaccessibility of the user. For example it can indicate when the user isbusy, not busy, available or not available. In use, calendar 48Cgenerates input screens on device 10 prompting the user to inputscheduled events through keypad 24. Alternatively, notification forscheduled events could be received via an encoded signal in a receivedcommunication, such as an e-mail, SMS message or voicemail message. Oncethe data relating to the event is entered, calendar 48C stores processesinformation relating to the event; generates data relating to the event;and stores the data in memory in device 10.

Address book 48D enables device 10 to store contact information forpersons and organizations. Address book 48D is activated by activationof address book icon 26 on display 14. In particular, name, address,telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, cellphone numbers and other contactinformation is stored. The data can be entered through keypad 24 and isstored in an accessible a database in non-volatile memory, such aspersistent storage 70, which is associated with microprocessor 18, orany other electronic storage provided in device 10.

Email application 48E provides modules to allow user of device 10 togenerate email messages on device 10 and send them to their addressees.Application 48E also provides a GUI which provides a historical list ofemails received, drafted, saved and sent. Text for emails can be enteredthrough keypad 24. Email application 48E is activated by activation ofemail icon 26 on display 14.

Browser application 48F is an application that can access informationfrom the Internet (such as HTML or active documents) or an intranet, aswell as folders in the local file system and on a network and generateresults on display 14. Such applications are known in the art. If a link(as an address) to a web site is provided by another application tobrowser 48F, it will search the Internet or intranet (as relevant) forthe web site associated with the link.

Help application 48G provides text, audio images, video images and linksto additional information to provide general help on various topicsrelating to device 10, its applications, its services or its connectionsto wireless carriers. Some of the information and resources may bestored locally on device 10. Additional external resources may beprovided from resource 32. Links to the external resources may beprovided as web page addresses embedded in the information locallystored on device 10. The remote resources may relate to specificapplications, general application, information specific to the userhimself or the device or class of devices (e.g. relating to models,manufacturers and specific features provided to devices) or any otherinformation that can be remotely stored and selectively provided todevice 10.

Option application 48H is an application that provides a GUI for a userto review and change configuration options and retrieve operatinginformation about device 10. Some of the resources for the informationcome from device 10. Other resources are remote to device 10 and areaccessed through network 36. Preferably, all accesses are seamless tothe user.

Further detail is provided on remote resource management, maintenanceand distribution systems as provided by server 34 for device 10.

One implementation for a shared resource 32 accessible by device(s) 10is for an embodiment is “help” information for application 48G. The helpinformation can relate to general help and information about servicesprovided for device(s) 10 and broadcast information about the networkthat device(s) are connected to. One or more help resources may beprovided on device 10 through its GUI.

As noted, the help information can be pre-loaded on device 10. Forexample, a locally stored web-page may be provided on device 10 thatprovides a user with information on general (non-application specific)content and application-specific content. Additional remote informationfrom resource 32 may be embedded into the pre-loaded help information.The additional information may be automatically sought by device 10 orspecific access links (such as web links) may be embedded into thepre-loaded information.

Alternatively, an access choice in menu option for the remote resource32 may be built into the GUI for device 10. With the above described GUIfor device 10, the help menu item can be used to present remoteresources 32 to device 10. As noted, the help menu can provideadditional text relating to the resource.

Alternatively still, the help information may be all based on remoteresource 32.

In providing remote resource 32 to device 10, remote resource 32typically has at least two data elements associated with it in device10: access information for the resource; and any ancillary text that isto be displayed through the GUI for the resource 32. Both data elementsare provided to and stored on device 10 in its non-volatile memory. Allrelevant applications operating on device 10 can access both dataelements.

The first data element provides a link to the resource itself. As theresource is centrally managed, the link provides an indirect method ofaccessing the resource. Different embodiments provide different types oflinks. One link is an accessible link, such as a Universal Resource Link(URL) that is provided to device 10 and can be selectively activated ondevice 10 to access the associated resource. The URL provides an HTTPaddress for a page at a web site that provides the resource (helpinformation); an exemplary URL would behttp://www.helppage.com/page1.html. In use, when a user navigatesthrough screen 300 and activates the menu option associated with thehelp resource, the associated URL is retrieved by device 10 and isprovided to its web browser application. Next, the web browser sends arequest for the noted HTML page to its web server. The web server thenaccesses the Internet to retrieve and display the web page. The web pageitself is stored on a remote server (as associated with the web addressof the URL). As such, the specific contents of the web site and itsparticular links can be managed remotely from device 10.

In an alternative embodiment, the first data element provides a link toa FTP site, where an executable file providing an application as adownloadable software program that can be downloaded, stored andexecuted on device 10. As such, the data in device 10 does not need tomaintain the resource.

The second data element is typically a text string providing a shortdescription of the resource that is incorporated into the GUI when theuser navigates through a GUI that allows access to the resource. In someembodiments, the second data element may not be provided.

The above noted data elements (and additional data elements) relating tothe resource(s) may be provided to device 10 through several mechanisms.One simple mechanism is manual entry and storage of the data elementsinto device 10 through a user input screens. The screen prompts the userto enter the relevant links and text manually through input dialogboxes. Once the data elements are entered, they are processed and storedin the non-volatile memory. Then the resource (and its relatedinformation) can be accessed by device 10 as necessary through the GUInoted above. This mechanism requires the user to have accurate knowledgeof the data elements.

A more preferable mechanism is to automatically download the dataelements into device 10. The downloading of the data elements requires adata processing module operating on device 10 to receive and process adata packet 38 from an external server 34, then extract the relevantdata elements from it and store the elements in relevant non-volatilememory of device 10. For the embodiment, the data packet 38 is providedas a service record, which is a transmittable data structure containingset fields where dedicated fields contain the contents of element. Thedata packet has a predefined and known structure of fields so thatcertain data elements are expected at certain accessible locations inthe data packet. As such, expected data elements can be extracted fromthe packet by device 10. The data packet may have a header fields forone or more of the data elements. The data packet can contain almost anytype of information that relates to the device, user, the user'saccount, carrier service or one or more applications. Differentdatabases can store different information. A particular data packetrelating to particular information may be selectively generated and sentto one or more devices depending on triggering conditions set by theembodiment.

It will be seen that a data packet can be generated by resource server34 associated with the resource 32, which can then encode and transmitthe data packet through its associated communication network to one ormore devices 10. The extraction and transmission of the accessinformation is provided by a data transmission module operating onserver 34 and resource 32. Transmission of the data packet may beprovided based on predetermined conditions. One transmission conditionmay be the detection of a new device 10 within the transmissioncapabilities of the communication network 36. For a wirelesscommunication network the transmission capabilities may be set by thetransmission range of the network. For a wired communication network,the transmission capabilities may be limited to the devices 10 that areconnected to predetermined access points to the network.

Another transmission condition may be to periodically generate andbroadcast the data packet to all devices 10 that are in transmissioncapabilities of the communication network. For example, the data packetmay be sent whenever the server initiates a change to the resource.

For the embodiment, the data packet 38 is also known as a servicerecord. Service records for one or more resources 32 may be providedthrough one or more resource servers 34. Each resource servers cancommunicate with device 10 to selectively provide a service record todevice 10 through its associated communication network 36. To assist inidentifying resource servers 34, each resource server 34 can be providedwith a unique identification address to identify it to devices 10 andother servers 34.

Further detail is now provided on the operation of the resource servers34. It will be appreciated that device 10 can be configured to operateon one or more communication networks. The networks may include wirelesscomponents and the device may have a wireless or wired communicationsystem, or it may have both wireless and wired communication systems. Insome embodiments, the device is configured to operate on a wirelessnetwork that permits access to a wire-based network such as theInternet.

The embodiment provides several resource servers 34 including aregistration server, a corporate mobile data service (MDS) server, apublic MDS server, a generic provisioning server, a wireless applicationprotocol (WAP) server. Each server can manage different resources and assuch different help resources. Each server may be positioned atdifferent access points within the communication network(s) for device10 (e.g. behind firewalls, incorporated with local corporate servers,incorporated with specific carriers for wireless/wired services,incorporated with a generic services for multiple carriers, etc.). Assuch, different servers can provide different levels of security, accessand speed of access when providing resources to devices 10. Each servermay also have different protocols for providing their updated servicerecords to device 10. Each server may provide resources 32 relating toapplications, accounts, access information, carrier information (ifapplicable), devices, or other information that it can store, process orextract from any of its related systems and software.

One feature of an embodiment provides a selectable prioritizationprotocol when two or more resources 32 are provided from one or moreservers 34. When two or more service records 38 are received by device10, the prioritization protocol, if implemented, ranks the servicerecords 38 according to a preset ranking scheme. Following the scheme,the presentation arrangement in the GUI for the received and extractedlinks from the service records may be presented in an order reflectingthe ranking. In some instances where there is a conflict or ranking ofresources between two or more service records, only a subset of theservice records may be used and presented in the GUI. It will beappreciated that the protocol may be based on several factors includinga relative trustworthiness of resource server, redundancy of informationprovided by one resource in view of the availability of another resourcefrom another server, speed of access from a server, etc.

Based on the received service records 38 and any prioritizationprotocols applied there against, the GUI may be modeled on device 10 toshow the resources in a certain order, show some resources as subgroupsin a menu, and not show selected resources or a combination of anyranking techniques.

As an example of provisioning a resource 32 to device 10, further detailis provided on the processing of a service record 38 received by device10 from a registration server 34 for a communication network 36. Thecommunication network is a wireless network provided by a given carrier.As such, the carrier is offering wireless services to its customers andsells, rents and leases devices 10 to its customers. An address isassociated with the registration server 34 to identify the registrationserver in its communication network 36. For devices 10 connecting to thecommunication network 36, the address of the registration server may bestored in the device after it is manufactured. This may be done by thecarrier, an operator of the wireless network relating to the device orby another entity. Typically, the address of the registration serverwill be designated by the provider of the communication network.

Eventually the device 10 is delivered to a user. The user may obtain thedevice from the wireless network operator or from a reseller who sellsthe device on behalf of one of the operator. After obtaining the device,the user enables the communication system of the device. Thecommunication system detects the presence of at least one of thenetworks 36 and uses the stored address of the registration server 34 tosend a registration request to the registration server. The registrationserver, in conjunction with a provisioning server determines whether thedevice may be provisioned with a service record using the presentmethod. If the service record has been provisioned for the devicebefore, or if the device has been designated not to be provisioned withthe associated resource, or if the device has been designated to beprovisioned with the associated resource by an alternate method, theregistration request is denied. If the registration request is approved,the device is provided with a service record 38 generated by server 34relating to resource 32 that contains links and text that enable thedevice 10 to access resource 32. Additional services may also beprovisioned in the record.

The device is typically capable of using various data display and datacollection protocols. In one embodiment, the device is capable ofdisplaying pages in WML and HTML on a display screen, using anapplication installed on the device. The pages can include forms withdialogs allowing the device's user to enter data into the form using aninput device.

The service record delivered to the device is compatible with thedevice's capabilities for displaying and collecting data. The servicerecords may be simply data packets that contain collections ofparameters. Some of those parameters may be references to resources 32that can be associated either with the device or with specificapplications on the device. Those parameters may be in the form ofcontent (such as, but not limited to, HTML or WML links) that iscompatible with the display capabilities of the device. But thoseparameters may also be more abstract pieces of data, such as just an URLand descriptive text associated with each external resource 32 (andpossibly an identifier to describe which application(s) on the deviceeach particular link applies to). In those cases, the applicationsthemselves may choose to make those resources available to the user intheir own way (such as via a menu item in that application, which, ifselected, will access the content indicated by the resource) or bydynamically incorporating an access link within textual or graphicalcontent that the application presented to the user. Additionally, anylinks can be ordered or presented in the application in a mannerdetermined by a pre-set ranking scheme.

It will be appreciated that resources 32 may be applicable to device 10as a whole (non-application-specific) and resources 32 may beapplication-specific. In the case of application-specific externalresources, the provisioned information provides an indication of whichapplications those resources apply to.

Some further aspects of an embodiment will now be described in greaterdetail with reference to FIG. 6, which illustrates a system 100 forprovisioning an associated resource for a mobile communication device10.

System 100 includes a registration server 34, a provisioning server 106,another resource server 34, a subscriber registry 109 and a deviceregistry 118. System 100 is typically operated by a service provider A,which may provide the associated resource itself or which may provisionthe associated resource for device 10 on behalf of another serviceprovider (not shown) that provides the associated resource. In thepresent exemplary embodiment, resource 32 is a help application based asa web page provided by resource server 34.

System 100 communicates with device 10 across a network 110, such as theInternet or a local area or wide area network (LAN or WAN). Typically,although not necessarily, device 10 is a wireless communication devicecapable of communicating with network 110 using a wireless communicationnetwork 36, which typically will be operated by network operator 116.

In this exemplary embodiment, device 10 is operated by a user who is asubscriber of services provided by network operator 116.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the resource 32 is associated witha server 34, which is provided by a service provider B. In the presentexemplary embodiment, the network operator 116 is also service providerB, although the network operator 116 may be a distinct entity fromservice provider B.

Network operator 116/Service provider B maintains a primary serviceprovider system 114 for recording information relating to users thatobtain device 10 and/or the resource 34 from service provider B. Inembodiments where the network operator 116 and service provider B aredistinct entities, each of them may maintain separate systems to recordinformation relating to the user and the specific equipment (such asdevice 10) and services and resources (such as the primary resource)that each of them provides to the user.

The components of system 100 may communicate with one another throughnetwork 110 or through another network 120. Furthermore, one or morecomponents of system 100 may operate on a single computer system or maybe integrated into a single server. For example, registration server 34and provisioning server 106 may be integrated together or they mayoperate concurrently on a single computer system. In other embodimentsof the present invention, registration server 34 or provisioning server106 or both may consist of multiple processes operating on two or morecomputers.

Subscriber registry 109 is used by system 100 to track the status ofsubscribers, who are users of various devices that have subscribed tonetwork access resources offered by network operator 116.

Typically, additional wireless network operators (not shown), likenetwork operator 116, will provide network access services allowingmobile devices to connect to network 110 and to system 100. This isfurther described below. Each of these network operators may providedevices to subscribers of their services. Subscriber registry 109 isused to track the status of all such subscribers and the record for eachsubscriber in subscriber registry 109 may include the identity of thespecific network operator who provides network access services to thesubscriber.

In the present embodiment, subscriber registry 109 has a record for eachsubscriber that is known to system 100. This may include subscribers ofservices and resources provided by network operator 116 (and othernetwork operators) who have not yet provisioned the associated resourcefor use on their mobile devices in addition to subscribers who haveprovisioned the associated resource for use on their mobile devices. Thestatus of a subscriber in subscriber registry 109 may one or more of thefollowing:

Status Meaning Associated resource provisioned for The subscriber hasprovisioned the associated subscriber resource his or her mobile device.Associated resource cannot or will not be The subscriber is notpermitted to use the provisioned for subscriber through the provisioningmethod of the present invention. method of this invention It may bepossible to provision the resource using a different method. Subscriberknown - associated resource The network operator has reported that thenot provisioned subscriber has subscribed to resources from the networkoperator, but the subscriber has not yet provisioned the resource foruse on his or her mobile device. Subscriber Suspended The subscriberdevice has been suspended or blocked. This may be done because thesubscriber has failed to pay fees to the network operator or for otherreasons.These status descriptions are only exemplary and additional statuscategories may be used to describe the status of a subscriber. Inaddition, the record for each subscriber may contain additionalinformation related to the resources or services that a subscriber hassubscribed to.

Device registry 118 is used by system 100 to track the status of mobilecommunication devices, such as device 10. All devices for which system100 has provisioned the associated resource have a record in deviceregistry 118. In addition, the device registry 118 may contain recordsfor devices that are capable of having the associated resourceprovisioned for them. Subscriber registry 118 may also contain recordsfor devices for which the associated resource cannot or will not beprovisioned through the method of this invention. The status of a devicemay be one or more of the following:

Status Meaning Associated resource provisioned for The associatedresource has already been device provisioned for the device. Associatedresource cannot or will not be The device is not permitted to use theprovisioned through the method of this provisioning method of thepresent invention. invention It may be possible to provision theresource using a different method. Device activated - associatedresource The device is known to have been activated, not provisioned butthe associated resource has not been provisioned for it. This status maybe used for a device that has been reported as activated by a networkoperator. Device known but not activated The device is known to exist(i.e. the identification code of the device has been assigned to it),but the device has not been activated. Suspended The device has beensuspended or blocked. This may be done because the device has beenreported lost or stolen.These status descriptions are only exemplary and additional statuscategories may be used to describe the status of a device. In someembodiments of the present invention, some of these status descriptionsmay not be used. In addition, the record for each device may containadditional information related to the device's capabilities, otherservices provisioned by service provider A or other service providers,etc. The status of a device in device registry 118 may be set based onadvice from network operator 116. For example, the network operator 118may advise when it has delivered a device to a user, or when a user hasreported a device lost or stolen, or when a device should be suspendedbecause the user has failed to pay required fees, etc.

Returning to the present example, the user obtains the primary servicefrom service provider B, and will enter an arrangement with serviceprovider B relating to the primary service.

The user obtains device 10 and subscribes to wireless network accessservices from network operator 116. The user obtains e-mail service,which is the primary service, from service provider B. As noted above,network operator 116 and service provider B are the same entity, in thisexemplary embodiment.

During manufacturing, device 10 is configured to operate with one ormore types of communication networks. For example, network 36 may be aGPRS network which provides “always-on” communication capabilities formobile devices such as device 10. Device 10 will contain a radio antennaand associated circuitry required to detect the presence of the network36 and to communicate with other components in the network. Device 10may also be configured to operate with other types of networks, such asother GSM networks or CDMA networks. During or after manufacture, device10 will typically also be configured with an identification code such aselectronic serial number (ESN) or an International Mobile EquipmentIdentifier (IMEI) that is typically used for wireless communicationdevices in GSM networks (such as a GPRS network).

In some embodiments, after device 10 has been manufactured, a record maybe created for it subscriber registry 118. If a record is created, thestatus of device 10 will be set to “Device known but not activated”. Inthe present exemplary embodiment, this is not typically done and arecord for the device is not created in the device registry until thedevice is activated.

Referring to FIG. 7 a, flow chart 700 shows exemplary steps andprocesses executed by resource server 34 in determining how and when tosend a new data packet relating to its resource 32 to device 10. Afterthe server has been activated at step 702, it monitors its triggerconditions to determine whether a trigger condition has been activatedto generate and send a data packet at step 704. The condition may bethat an access parameter has changed or that a new device has beendetected or that a timeout condition has occurred. An addition triggerthat may be initiated upon startup of device 10 is “Device Not YetProvisioned”. If no trigger condition has occurred, then the If notrigger condition has occurred, then the process returns to start atstep 702. If a trigger condition has occurred, then the resource isanalyzed for any new access and text information and a data packetcontaining the information is built at step 706. Next the packet isprovided to the communication network for conversion to a transmissionsignal and transmission to device 10 at step 708. It will be appreciatedthat in other system other steps may be provided or the steps may beexecuted in a different order.

Referring to FIG. 7 b, flow chart 710 shows exemplary steps andprocesses executed by device 10 in determining when to request a newdata packet relating to a resource 32 from server 34 and what to do oncea packet is received. After device 10 has been activated at step 712, itchecks whether it has roamed to a new carrier service or if it has notbeen registered with the current carrier service at step 714. If eithercondition is true, it sends a request for a data packet for the resourcethrough the carrier at step 716. If neither condition is true, itmonitors for the receipt of new data packets at step 718. Once a newdata packet is received (after either step 716 or 718), at step 720,device 10 extracts the access and display information from the datapacket. At step 722, all data from all received data packets from allservers 34 is prioritized. At step 724, the data in ranked and the textdata to be populated in the various GUI fields is provided to the GUI.Thereafter, when option application is activated and the user navigatesthrough the GUIs, when a request for a help application is activated,device 10 retrieves the website information associated with theactivated help application and provides it to the browser application40G to fetch and manage the information as it is retrieved from server34. It will be appreciated that in other devices, other steps may beprovided or the steps may be executed in a different order.

Reference is next made to FIG. 8, which illustrates another system 400that may be used by an embodiment. System 800 is similar to system 100and similar components are given the same reference numeral as in system100. System 800 includes a gateway 820 and a provisioning proxy 822.

Gateway 820 operates as an interface between device 10 and provisioningserver 106 and associated resource. Gateway 820 may be an assembly ofone or more computer systems that serve to streamline communicationsbetween provisioning server 106 and mobile communication devices such asdevice 10. Similarly, gateway 820 serves to streamline communicationsbetween associated resource provider and mobile communication devices.

Provisioning proxy 822 serves as an interface between gateway 820 andprovisioning server 106, similarly serving to streamline communicationsbetween gateway 820 and provisioning server 106 by, for example,conducting the operation of pushing service records to device 10.Provisioning proxy 822 may also serve to provide secure communicationbetween device 10 and provisioning server 106.

It will be appreciated that all of the modules, processes, data bases,data processing data transmission and other features and techniquesdescribed herein may be implemented in software, firmware and hardwareprocesses and designs using skill of those skilled in the art.

The present disclosure has been described here by way of example only.Various modification and variations may be made to these exemplaryembodiments without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of provisioning resources at aserver in a network to a mobile electronic device for a mobileelectronic device, the method comprising at the server: after receivinga network registration request from the mobile electronic device,determining whether the mobile electronic device is in a device registrylinking resources managed by the server; if the mobile electronic deviceis in the device registry, determining whether a resource is approved tobe provisioned to the mobile electronic device from the server,otherwise, if the mobile electronic device is not in the deviceregistry, awaiting a request from the mobile electronic device for theresource and evaluating the request; determining from the deviceregistry whether either the resource has already been provisioned to themobile electronic device or the mobile electronic device has beendesignated to be provisioned with the resource from an alternativesource from the server, and if so, not approving the resource to beprovisioned to the mobile electronic device, otherwise providing a datatransmission to the mobile electronic device from the server, the datatransmission containing text, a link to the resource and an indicatorthat the resource is new to the mobile electronic device if the resourceis new to the mobile electronic device, the text, link and indicator forextraction by the mobile electronic device from the data transmissionand for use in a graphical user interface (GUI) of a display of themobile electronic device to provide an interface to activate the linkfrom the mobile electronic device and an indication on the GUI that theresource is new if the resource is new to the mobile electronic device;and transmitting the resource to the mobile electronic device when thelink is activated through the GUI on the mobile electronic device. 2.The method of provisioning resources at a server as claimed in claim 1,wherein: the resource provides information relating to a wirelesscarrier associated with the network and the mobile electronic device. 3.The method of provisioning resources at a server as claimed in claim 1,wherein: the resource provides information relating to a user's accountassociated with the network and the mobile electronic device.
 4. Themethod of provisioning resources at a server as claimed in claim 1,further comprising: providing a second resource to the mobile electronicdevice with a second link and second text information relating to thesecond resource for the mobile electronic device.
 5. The method ofprovisioning resources at a server as claimed in claim 1, wherein theresource relates to another application operating on the mobileelectronic device.
 6. The method of provisioning resources at a serveras claimed in claim 4, wherein: the GUI is configured to display thesecond resource with the second link and the second text informationrelating to the second resource.
 7. The method of provisioning resourcesat a server as claimed in claim 1, wherein the link is a HTML link. 8.The method of provisioning resources at a server as claimed in claim 1,wherein the link is an address to an FTP site.
 9. The method ofprovisioning resources at a server as claimed in claim 1, wherein: theserver does not approve the resource for provisioning to the mobiledevice if either the resource has already been provisioned to the mobileelectronic device or the mobile electronic device has been designated tobe provisioned with the resource from an alternative source.
 10. Themethod of provisioning resources at a server as claimed in claim 9,further comprising: checking a mobile electronic device registry whendetermining whether to approve or not approve the resource for themobile electronic device.
 11. The method of provisioning resources at aserver as claimed in claim 1, wherein the resource relates to anotherapplication operating on the mobile electronic device.
 12. The method ofprovisioning resources at a server as claimed in claim 1, wherein at themobile electronic device the data transmission is received; and if theresource is new to the mobile electronic device an indicator is providedon the GUI that the resource is new.
 13. A mobile server forprovisioning resources to a mobile electronic device through a network,the server comprising: a microprocessor; memory; and applicationinstructions stored in the memory providing instructions executed on themicroprocessor to: after receiving a network registration request from amobile electronic device, access a device registry to determine whethera resource is approved to be provisioned to the mobile electronic devicefrom the mobile server; if the mobile electronic device is not in thedevice registry, await a request for a resource from the mobileelectronic device from the mobile server and evaluating the request;determine from the device registry whether either the resource hasalready been provisioned to the mobile electronic device or the mobileelectronic device has been designated to be provisioned with theresource from an alternative source from the provisioning server and ifso, to not approve the resource to be provisioned to the mobileelectronic device, otherwise to provide a data transmission to themobile electronic device from the mobile server, the data transmissioncontaining text, a link to the resource and an indicator that theresource is new to the mobile electronic device if the resource is newto the mobile electronic device, the text, link and indicator forextraction by the mobile electronic device from the data transmissionand for use in a graphical user interface (GUI) of a display of themobile electronic device to provide an interface to activate the linkfrom the mobile electronic device and an indication on the GUI that theresource is new if the resource is new to the mobile electronic device;and transmit the resource to the mobile electronic device when the linkis activated through the GUI on the mobile electronic device.
 14. Themobile server for provisioning resources to an electronic device asclaimed in claim 13, wherein: the resource provides information relatingto a wireless carrier associated with the network and the mobileelectronic device.
 15. The mobile server for provisioning resources toan electronic device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the resourceprovides information relating to a user's account associated with thenetwork and the mobile electronic device.
 16. The mobile server forprovisioning resources to an electronic device as claimed in claim 13,wherein the application instructions provide further instructionsexecuted on the microprocessor to: provide a second resource to themobile electronic device with a second link and second text informationrelating to the second resource for the mobile electronic device. 17.The mobile server for provisioning resources to an electronic device asclaimed in claim 13, wherein the resource provides information relatingto a user's account associated with the network and the mobileelectronic device.
 18. The mobile server for provisioning resources toan electronic device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the resourcerelates to another application operating on the mobile electronicdevice.
 19. The mobile server for provisioning resources to anelectronic device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the link is a HTMLlink.
 20. The mobile server for provisioning resources to an electronicdevice as claimed in claim 13, wherein the link is an address to an FTPsite.